Is it worth it to upgrade a 5 year old MacBook Pro? I am looking to upgrade Ram from 4GB to 16GB and upgrade a 250 internal HDD to a 2 TB internal HDD. I use my MacBook as a media center only. If I put the money into upgrades I would like to hang on to this MacBook another 5 years.
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MacBook Pro Late 2010 - upgrade or buy a new MacBook Pro?
- Thread starter adam1314
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I have one of these. You can't upgrade the RAM over 8GB on these, unlike newer models. I upgraded from 4GB to 8GB within a year of purchase, and to a Crucial M4 SSD two years ago. It's still fast and very functional, and I use it daily. Would it last another 5 years ? I don't know. The graphics chip is known to be flaky, and if the logic board goes, that's money to replace. I'm also pushing it on the battery cycles department, still on original battery. You'll therefore need at least the 8GB RAM, SSD and probably a new battery, unless you keep it plugged in almost all the while.
Firstly, is there such thing as Late 2010 MBP...? I thought there was only Mid 2010 MBPs...
Secondly, certain batches of Mid 2010 MBP 13" can support up to 16GB... I assume OP has a 13" MBP...?
Secondly, certain batches of Mid 2010 MBP 13" can support up to 16GB... I assume OP has a 13" MBP...?
Sorry it is 13" Mid 2010. I checked the Other World Computing website and my model is the only 13" model (Model ID: 7,1 only) that will support 16gb of ram.
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Looks like the 16gb of ram would be $165 then the 2 Tb hard drive is $125.
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Looks like the 16gb of ram would be $165 then the 2 Tb hard drive is $125.
If you only use it as a media center, I'm not sure you have any use for 16GB - at least not for now. What's your motivation for that particular upgrade?
With an 8 GB upgrade (possibly an 8+2 configuration to make it easier to subsequently upgrade to 16 should you need it), it should serve you fine for your needs for another 5 years.
With an 8 GB upgrade (possibly an 8+2 configuration to make it easier to subsequently upgrade to 16 should you need it), it should serve you fine for your needs for another 5 years.
Although I do use it primarily for a media center, my wife will occasionally use iPhoto along with other apps and it really lags a lot which is frustrating. I was hoping upgrading the ram would help with that. Part of the problem could just be how slow iPhoto can be sometimes. I haven't upgraded to the new photos app yet maybe it will be better.
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16gb could be overkill though. 8 gb could be enough. Think it is overkill?
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16gb could be overkill though. 8 gb could be enough. Think it is overkill?
Yes, I do. Consider the following (which will also help a lot with the iPhoto lag):
Buy one stick of 8GB, and use it alongside one of your already installed 2GB modules, for a total of 10GB. If later you find you need more RAM than that, you can easily buy another 8GB stick and replace the last 2GB.
Get a small cheap SSD (possibly Crucial BX100, or even a second-hand Intel 320) for OS X and apps and replace your optical drive with a large hard drive for storage (provided you don't need the optical drive).
That will give you plenty of performance and "snappiness" for your wife's occasional needs as well as enough storage for yours.
Thank you so much for the advice JTToft. I had no idea you could replace the optical drive with an SSD. Wow the best of both worlds. I am definitely doing that and will just put 8gb stick of ram and keep the 2gb in the other slot. Thanks again.
- Well, I'm glad to be of help.
You do need a bracket to make the switch, though. OWC's Data Doubler is well-recommended, but you can get others from Ebay and other sources.
My suggestion was to put the HDD in the place of the OD, but you may actually be better off putting the SSD in the OD's place, since the Sudden Motion Sensor for hard drives only functions in the main bay. On your machine, both bays have SATA II 3 Gbps.
Let me know if you need further advice.
This is extremely helpful, thanks again. My game plan is to purchase everything I need over the next couple weeks. Excited to upgrade my MacBook Pro.